Horizon Forbidden Westis the long-awaited sequel to 2017’sopen-worldaction RPGHorizon Zero Dawn. Many were surprised when the first installment was announced at E3 2015 as an action RPG, a new direction for a studio previously known for making first-person shooters.
Horizon Zero Dawnwas a critical and commercial hit, andHorizon Forbidden Westaims to recapitulate the booming success of its predecessor. But for that to happen, perhapsForbidden Westshould take a new approach and dive further into its successful RPG elements.
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The Lack of RPG Elements in Horizon Zero Dawn
Early gameplay reveals and Guerrilla Games' past endeavors seemed to indicate thatHorizon Zero Dawnwould be a game that would prioritize combat over the story. However,Horizon Zero Dawnoffers asurprisingly deep dystopian plotthat’s very well fleshed out. Guerrilla Games did a fine job establishing the lore of its post-post-apocalyptic universe that feels authentic, believable, and worth caring about. On top of that, Aloy is an admirable protagonist who has the spotlight all for herself throughout the story.
Although the story feels fresh, it lacksmajor RPG tropes. For instance, there are no diverging pathways, and the dialogue options, despite being extensive, don’t offer real consequences to the story. There are no multiple endings, no choice and consequence, and no emphasis on the story that would differentiate it from a non-RPG, which is a shame because the game’s open-world has a ton of potential of portraying a non-linear storyline with real choice and consequences. It is even more surprising because Guerrilla Games hired John Gonzalez, who worked onFallout: New Vegas, as the lead writer and narrative director forHorizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Zero Dawn’s fun and frantic combat, on the other hand, dips its toes a little into Capcom’s best-sellingMonster Huntergames. Like inMonster Hunter, each machine roaming the open-world ofHorizon Zero Dawnhas its own purpose. For example, Grazers forage in groups to produce blaze-an important crafting material, whereas Tallnecks monitor the weather. However, combat inHorizon Zero Dawnis not as deeply layered as theMonster Huntergames. It doesn’t mean that the combat inHorizon Zero Dawnisn’t tactical, though it quickly becomes stale due to a lack of unique weapons and weapons attributes.
Horizon Zero Dawn’s biggest weakness is perhaps the lack of variety in its weapons. The primary weapon has only three variants whose each subsequent upgrade doesn’t offer game-changing stats, making combat painfully repetitive after sinking a couple of hours. Every enemy encounter remains challenging and nerve-wracking, and defeating them feels satisfying though the lack of unique weapons and no significant upgrades can make these encounters a chore. For acombat-focused action RPG,Horizon Zero Dawn’s combat is surprisingly simple.
Interestingly, most of these design choices andHorizon Zero Dawn’s simple combat and story structure were on purpose. Even before the game’s release, Guerrilla Games had remained clear about the kind of experienceHorizon Zero Dawnwas going to be. As revealed, the developers didn’t want to overburden players with complex gameplay mechanics. As much as this makes sense, the lack of depth in RPG elements could also be due to Guerrilla’s lack of experience in making such games.
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What Horizon Forbidden West Could Learn From Horizon Zero Dawn
So far,Horizon Forbidden Westseems to be a step in the right direction. The 14 minutes longState of Playgameplay demo gives a glimpse of some of the gameplay changes from the first game. Aloy retains her bow but has picked up a few new neat tricks and tools along the way. The spear can now be overclocked to cause high-damage effects. It seems players will also be able to perform different combos with the spear, all of which have different uses and effects. Aloy also has a launcher that can be used to throw firey spikes on the enemies. Furthermore, smoke bombs can be used to create diversions. While these subtle new additions are not enough to offer unique playstyle experiences like a traditional RPG, they still seem fun and add much more variety to the combat than the first game. Hopefully, they are just a few of the many weapons and tools players will find in the game.
Sadly, the gameplay trailer doesn’t reveal anything about the weapons and armor upgrades.Horizon Zero Dawntinkered with the loot system a little, starting from green as uncommon to purple at rare.Horizon Forbidden Westloot system must be more refined in which every weapon upgrade offer perks leads to different gameplay experiences. Given how there won’t be any class systems, the loot is one aspect whereHorizon Forbidden Westcould lean heavily to establish its RPG roots, all the while taking inspiration from other loot-driven games such asNiohorDestiny.
Just likeHorizon Zero Dawn,Horizon Forbidden Westwill feature multiple tribes, each with its own motives and principles. The state of play presentation gave a detailed look at one of the game’s rebel tribes called Tenakth who has the ability to override machines. While it would be nice to havebranching storylines and morality-based choices inHorizon Forbidden West, Aloy’s heroic nature would mean taking an approach similar toMass Effect’s Commander Shepard. Additionally, the game could tinker a little with the game’s tribes, adding faction quests that shape the game’s universe outside of the main story.
Horizon Forbidden Westcould take a page out ofSkyrimwhere the players had the option to side with one of the two factions and take part in the civil war questline that doesn’t influence the main story but changes the outlook ofSkyrimover the course of the journey. InHorizon Forbidden West, this would mean that Aloy could only side with good tribes rather than evil ones, but even that would be a welcome change and a step in the right direction for an action RPG title like this. The game’s narrative director Ben Mccaw has confirmed that stopping the blight is just one of the many mysteries Aloy will uncover in the game, so hopefully, there is a possibility of pursuing other storylines that could havelasting consequences inHorizon Forbidden West’s post-post-apocalyptic world.
Horizon Forbidden Westlaunches Holiday 2021 for PS4 and PS5.
